Top News For Putin, economic and political reality dampen appetite for arms race Reuters The Future Of Arms Control Is Global: Reconsidering Nuclear Issues In The Indo-Pacific War on the Rocks The weapons making nuclear war more likely BBC Russia/FSU/Europe Russia bids farewell to INF Treaty with fresh nuclear development plans Defense News2/7/2019 It didn’t take long following the United States’ announcement that the country would suspend its participation in a major Cold War arms treaty for Russia to move in kind. Now, freed of its obligations under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Moscow is wasting no time in developing new, once-prohibited weapons systems. For Putin, economic and political reality dampen appetite for arms race Reuters2/7/2019 With his ratings down and state funds needed to hedge against new Western sanctions and raise living standards, Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot afford to get sucked into a costly nuclear arms race with the United States. Russian official: Another nuclear pact with US in trouble ABC News2/7/2019 Another U.S.-Russian nuclear pact is in danger following the U.S. move to withdraw from a Cold War-era arms control treaty, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday. U.S. Nuclear Policy US officials indicate development could begin on missiles barred by INF CNN2/7/2019 The United States could begin research and development on weapons previously barred by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, according to multiple US officials — a move likely to play into concerns about a new nuclear arms race. Opinion and Analysis Blame Russian cheating, not America, for killing the INF treaty The Economist2/9/2019 When it turned 30 in 2017, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty was ailing. Russia had proposed ripping up the pact in 2005. When it was rebuffed it tested an illegal cruise missile, the 9m729. A few years later the Obama administration called out Russian cheating. In December 2018 America’s NATO allies belatedly backed America. The Future Of Arms Control Is Global: Reconsidering Nuclear Issues In The Indo-Pacific War on the RocksAndy Weber and Christine Parthemore 2/8/2019 On Feb. 1, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if the announced U.S. withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty was as much about the Western Pacific as it was about Russia. In response, Trump affirmed his view that for the arms control pact to work, more countries would need to be added: “I hope that you’re able to get everybody in a big and beautiful room and do a new treaty that would be much better.” Why the US must accelerate all elements of space-based nuclear deterrence Defense NewsAdm. Dennis C. Blair (ret.) 2/7/2019 In recent years, robust dialogue and billions of dollars have been devoted to modernizing the nuclear triad, the three weapons systems that provide second-strike capability to deter adversaries from a nuclear attack on the United States. Yet, deterrence depends not only on a modernized triad but also on survivable systems for decision-makers to understand the nature of a nuclear attack, and to command and control the response. Special Interest The weapons making nuclear war more likely BBCJames Acton 2/8/2019 The threat of nuclear war fills people with fear. Yet the increasingly blurred line between nuclear and conventional weapons is heightening the danger.